OK. I admit it. It took me a while to admit. I love my iPhone. But let me start this post by getting the negative out of the way first. The iPhone still has one MAJOR blemish. I like to think that they're working on it and will make it right. It's the phone service itself from ATT&T. I can't tell you how many times I drop calls during the day. I even have a business colleague of mine who carries two phones. His iPhone and another cell to actually make and receive calls. A little absurd I guess. So why do I love my iPhone?

With the most recent addition of the App Store, I found myself slowly realizing the future of mobile computing. It truly is becoming an all-in-one, handheld application that I believe will change things. It's the promise they all made years ago (palm, blackberries, etc.), but few could deliver on. And with WI-FI easily accessible in most areas, the iPhone has become a game changer in my view. I figured I'd give you my perspective and how I currently use it daily.

• Make and receive calls (again, not the greatest, but getting better. I also seem to text like a teenager most these days anyway)
• Text messaging - Bar-none a better experience. Using a thread/conversations style I have access to an entire conversation like instant messaging on one screen.
• Photos - I take photos with it all the time and the quality isn't half bad. Especially seeing as i don't really print photos any more. I can easily upload them to my flickr account as well from my phone. I like that I have all my photos with me to share pictures of my kids for example with others.
• iPod - No need for a separate iPod anymore. This is nice. I grab my phone and go, knowing all my music, videos and audio books are available to me.
• Videos - I love that I can watch a movie on a plane or catch up on the World Series of Poker over and over again (content on demand baby!)
• Audio books - I commute about 25 minutes each day to the office. This is the perfect time to listen to some audiobooks and soak my brain in some good information.
• Instant messaging - I can now instant message from anywhere.
• Email - I can check my email with a full email client. In other words, I see my email exactly as I would if I was sitting in my office. I can also tell you, it comes in handy when you are away from the office. The only downfall is there is no real way to capture spam. (Product idea? hmmm...)
• Calendar/Contacts - I easily sync my contacts and calendar and take it to go with me daily.
• Shazaam - I guess Verizon already had this - but I love it. Ever hear a song on the radio (at a restaurant, bar or in the car) and wonder who it is? With a quick tap I have an app that will listen to it and download the track and artist name in seconds. Very cool.
• Maps/GPS - Nice to be in a foreign town and in someone else's ride and quickly get directions from here to there. It even knows the starting point (where you are exactly) and is very accurate.
• The App Store - You name it, they have it. From completely free to only a few bucks each, you can quickly download productivity apps, games, apps related to entertainment and lifestyle, business applications and more. This really sold me on the iPhone as I saw how fast a community of iPhone users and developers congregated. With user reviews, screens shots and instant download/install, you can extend your phone quickly. I believe this is what will push it over the edge.

Lastly is my favorite two apps of all. The first on is called Guitar Toolkit. It turns your iPhone into a VERY real guitar tuner. It comes with a tuner, a tone tuner, a metronome and a visual chord library of thousands of chords. The second is a Speak Easy voice recorder. I don't use it to record my voice, but my guitar inspirations. I can quickly tap a button and record my guitar progressions or any piece of writing I am working on and take it with me in high quality sound clips. Very cool.

So there you have it. I could write forever on it, but I think you get the idea. It’s changed my life for the better. I always resisted the "crackberry" phenomenon, but now I guess I can't live without my crackphone. :)